The Surge Movement
Beginning in the early 1990’s, a massive paradigm shift began to take place in global missions strategy. Before this time, the majority of missions work coming out of the United States happened through sending denominations and missions boards. Prospective missionaries were required by these entities to receive time-consuming and expensive training in theology and language. They would have to spend time serving under a ministry in their own land first, and earn the recommendation of their pastor before the board would consider supporting them. When finally approved, the missionaries would have to gather all their belongings and ship them abroad in a shipping container. They would then purchase plane tickets after securing a safe residence, reliable transportation, and a church building or ministry office on the field.
One modern-day figure from the Assemblies of God denomination estimates that it costs over $250,000 to send a Western missionary to the mission field. This figure merely includes the cost of preparation and moving. Thousands of dollars monthly are required to sustain a Western missionary’s ministry overseas.
Although the fruit borne around the world in the past two hundred years through the sending of Western missionaries is undeniable and extensive, it is clear that we are now living in a new era of world missions strategy. This new era is centered around empowering qualified native workers to be sent out into their own nation to spread the gospel. A native can live comfortably in the same conditions as the people to whom he ministers. He does not require language training and is already sensitive to the culture and customs of the region. He does not need to take a furlough or raise support.
This explains that while it may cost $250,000 to send a Western missionary to the field, one of Surge’s native workers can be sent out to do the same work for as little as $480 in Cuba. That $480 is the typical salary of a doctor in that Communist nation, and it covers the cost of living for our native worker for one year as he is released to pour himself fully into the task of evangelizing a target area and consolidating the new believers into his church. After a year, his church will have been taught the principle of tithing and will become a self-sustaining ministry. In fact, many of these churches are often able to multiply into more churches as the pastor raises up new leaders to take over his work and moves on to another church plant.
Many established Western missionaries have begun to recognize the value of the native worker, and have now focused their missions efforts on investing in these humble and hardworking indigenous leaders. Surge has partnered with a number of well-established, reputable, and powerful apostolic leaders around the world who are constantly seeing new native workers trained and raised up as leaders of integrity who are ready to be sent out into the harvest fields of their nation.
By providing a year’s modest living expenses for one of these workers raised up under our network of apostolic leaders, Surge is pioneering what may be the most cost-effective and fruitful means of spreading the gospel to all nations today. The fruit bears witness of itself, as just in the past decade over 20,000 churches have been planted in every corner of the globe. God’s hand is clearly on this strategic model, and we are excited to invite you to become part of this church planting movement that is sweeping the world.
